Overall Member Rating

Wonderful Quest Cruise to Croatia!

Well in a word, wonderful! First time on Azamara, previously on larger Celebrity and Holland ships. Really attracted to the port intensive, exclusive Croatian stops.

First time cruise review so I'll focus on the ship rather than the ports.

Overall: The Azamara brand is great for someone who wants a smaller ship, great food and friendly/engaged crew/officers. It does not have the larger ship production type shows or children's programs. If you want a relaxed, casual (no formal dress code) atmosphere this would be the cruise line for you, imho.

Food: We thought the food to be the best we have experienced on a cruise ship over 7 days. Note--we have not been on a Crystal, Seabourn or Silversea ship, rather Holland and Celebrity ships and the food we experienced on those ships hasn't been bad--Quest was just significantly better. The dinners in the main dining room were consistently very good to excellent, and the use of bold spices and flavors consistent. More
Temperature was also very good. Dining room staff was also attentive and eager to please. They would replace or give you whatever you needed promptly and would only ask what you didn't like so they could give the feedback to the kitchen and dining room manager. Another recent cruise review spoke about issues with staff in the dining room at breakfast--we always went to the buffet for breakfast so we can't comment on delays or any lack of training--we saw none of that in the main dining room or anywhere else on the ship for that matter. We would go to the buffet for dinner and check out the special theme for that night and sample--wonderful Indian night and the officer's BBQ-check them out for a pre-dinner snack.

Crew: Oh what a huge difference! The officers on this ship were so engaged with the passengers, and interested in anything you had to say. Philip Herbert on the Quest was amazing. I made some comments on the 2nd day (they actually ask for feedback on day 2 rather than wait to the usual end of cruise survey) and he called the room and left a message-never have had that-and my comments were all positive anyway; we like to give specific names of crew who are doing a good job and I know they passed it along very promptly as the fitness instructor thanked me for the compliments on my 2nd day feedback. Everyone else was also friendly, happy in their work and we had a lot of fun talking to many of them.

Ship: It's older but extremely well maintained. We liked the art work, color scheme and furnishings. Kind of like a very nice country home--not formal. Loved the country club casual dress code--no suits/tuxedos. Saw no jeans in the MDR and shorts only 1x. Other than the first night, you can eat in the MDR anytime from 6:30 to 9:30--was crowded around 8, but we went after 9 and loved the flexibility of that. Complimentary wine (red and/or white) was served at lunch in the cafe, MDR and even in the specialty restaurants--it was all good and quite drinkable; your glass was never "empty"..lol. If you liked one red/white from the day before, you could ask for it. Wines of the day were also available and 2 red and 2 white were discounted. Pricing was reasonable also by the glass. Great Mosaic cafe for coffees and snacks--went there for afternoon espresso. Less